1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an application method for integrating heterogeneous operating systems based on the same system kernel, and more particularly, to a method for integrating applications of heterogeneous operating systems based on the same system kernel by using characteristics of virtual consoles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Linux is an open source operating system for which the source code is freely available to everyone. Linux has advantages of stability, low software development cost, multi-user support, high security, etc., and therefore, is often adopted as a software development platform. Today, many operating systems, such as X Window, QT, and Android, are developed based on the Linux kernel. Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a boot process 10 of an operating system based on the Linux kernel according to prior art. FIG. 2 is a diagram of an operating environment of the operating system based on the Linux kernel according to prior art. In general, for an operating system based on the Linux kernel, the Linux kernel can be loaded at the beginning of a boot process of a computer system (Step 102). An initialization module, such as an initrd (also called initial ramdisk) file system, is loaded as needed for implementing the following hardware detection and configuration (Step 104). Furthermore, a root file system of the operating system is mounted and loaded (Step 106). After that, a virtual console corresponding to the operating system can be opened accordingly (Step 108). Finally, the required operating system services can be performed in the operating system (Step 110). In such a condition, a user is able to operate the operating system via the virtual console. As shown in FIG. 2, each virtual console has a corresponding root file system including program code and related resources of the corresponding operating system. Usually, the operating process of each operating system includes activating the Linux kernel at the bottom layer, and accomplishing the hardware configuration. Moreover, the corresponding root file system and virtual console can be utilized for running required applications of the operating system.
In general, each operating system has different types of development and design. For example, various operating systems may develop various types of application software. Even, a same kind of operating system may add some application software with an evolved revision. Therefore, as the user has some use requirements which are not able to be dealt with in the present operating system, the user may seek to resolve the requirements by using a specific application software of another operating system. However, if the user wants to use the specific application software of the other operating system, a reboot process is required and the process shown in FIG. 1 also needs to be performed to log into another operating system for implementing the specific application software. In other words, the user can only use functions of single operating system on a single hardware platform, causing inconvenience in use.
In short, how to apply application software or resources of each operating system across multiple operating systems simultaneously should be a concern in progressive system design.